Mansoor Ijaz

Mansoor Ijaz (also found as Musawer Mansoor Ijaz, Musawer Ijaz, and Musawer M. Ijaz), an American Muslim of Pakistani ancestry, is a New York financier. [1] Ijaz is a prominent businessman and a frequent media commentator on terrorism, foreign policy and national security especially in relation to Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Crescent Hydropolis Resorts PLC (CHR), a London Stock Exchange (AIM) quoted company founded in 2005 which Ijaz is chief executive of, "which is franchising and constructing the world's first underwater hotels and resorts. Proposed sites for Hydropolis Hotels include Dubai, Oman, Monaco, Las Vegas, Rio de Janeiro and Qingdao." [4]

Background

According to Benador Associates Ijaz's biography states that he "received his SM degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985 where he trained as a neuro-mechanical engineer in the joint MIT-Harvard Medical School Medical Engineering Medical Physics Program. He received his bachelor's degree Magna Cum Laude from the University of Virginia in 1983, where he majored in Physics. In the late 1980s, he applied the extensive modeling experience he gained at MIT and Harvard to develop The CARAT System, Crescent's proprietary currency, interest rate and equity risk management system." [5]

"Ijaz's father, Dr. Mujaddid Ahmed Ijaz (deceased), a prominent American physicist, was an early pioneer in developing the intellectual infrastructure of Pakistan's nuclear program," his profile states. [6]

The Washington Post noted that Ijaz raised a total of $525,000 for the Democratic Party. This included "$250,000 from his personal funds and $200,000 donated by guests at a fund-raising reception for Vice President [Al] Gore at Ijaz's New York penthouse in September, according to Federal Election Commission records, White House documents and Ijaz," the Washington Post reported. [14]

Ijaz told the Washington Post that political contributions helped at least gain initial access to decision makers. "Everybody knows who I am. Donations give you access once or twice. But in order to be meaningful in the policy process, you have to have something important to say, and information." [15]

Ijaz told the Washington Post's reporter that his "political credentials" with the Democrats were useful internationally citing Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Israel and various Persian Gulf states as examples. "Their leaders wouldn't give you the time of day if you're not politically prominent." [16]

Issues and debates Ijaz has been involved in

Bin Laden & Sudan

Commencing in 1996, Ijaz had a series of meetings with Sudan's president, Lt. Gen. Omar Hassan Bashir and the Islamic leader, Hassan Turabi and with Clinton administration officials including Sandy Berger. Both the United Nations and the U.S. Congress had imposed sanctions against the Sudanese government over the continued operation of terrorist groups on it soil. In February 1996 the U.S. government ordered the withdrawal of all its Embassy staff based on concerns about their security. (There were differences of opinion on how real the security threat was). [17]

Ijaz argued the U.S. should adopt a policy of "constructive engagement" [18] with Sudan and, in return for providing intelligence data on the terrorist groups and deporting Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia, ease the sanctions. Saudi Arabia refused to accept bin Laden. The U.S. government believed there were no legal grounds under which he could be indicted in U.S. courts at the time. On May 18 1996, under pressure from the U.S. government, the government of Sudan deported bin Laden. He then made his way to Afghanistan. [19]

Subsequently, Sudan made further overtures via Ijaz in July 1996 and April 1997 to the U.S. offering counter-terrorism assistance and access to intelligence data. In September 1997 the Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright announced she was sending a team of U.S diplomats back to Sudan, a decision reversed a few days later.

The following year, others, such as the conservative website NewsMax and Fox News's Sean Hannity, went further than Ijaz and claimed that Sudan had offered to extradite bin Laden direct to the United States. [21][22][23] The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission), stated that "former Sudanese officials claim that Sudan offered to expel Bin Ladin to the United States. Clinton administration officials deny ever receiving such an offer. We have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim." [24]

Following revelations in 2004 that Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had been selling nuclear know-how and technology to other countries, Ijaz expressed alarm at the risks of nuclear proliferation and urged Bush to make funding contingent on compliance with acceptable nuclear safeguards. "Pakistan has a right to maintain its nuclear deterrent. It does not have the right to hide from the world how many nuclear monsters it created in our midst," he wrote. [30][31]

Ijaz has also advocated the U.S. increase military support for the Pakistani Government, especially the sale of F-16s. [32]

Speaking June 25, 2005, at a one-day conference organized by the Fulbright Commission in partnership with the City Circle, Mansoor Ijaz, "a multi-millionaire American entrepreneur who has established close links with the American administration, explained how American Muslims must understand how the US political system works in order to use it to the advantage of their community. He urged delegates to see themselves as citizens of their country first, and campaign on issues not as Muslims, which may alienate mainstream, but as citizens who seek what’s in the best interest of their country. He justified his relationship with Fox News saying that it was the only way to bring balance to what is a widely viewed channel."